In my prediction earlier this week, I said that Alabama would win and that there was no other team in the country that could touch the Crimson Tide. I was wrong about that. LSU dominated Alabama in every stat except the one that counts–the final score. LSU had few penalties. LSU never turned the ball over. Zach Mettenberger finally showed up and led the team to put up over 400 yards of offense on the best defense in the nation. It was really impressive. At the end of the day, however, Alabama had it when it counted–like all championship teams do.
LSU fans will be tempted to blame this loss on Les Miles and some risky plays that he called that didn’t work out (fake field goal, onside kick, etc.). I disagree with that view. Should he have kicked the onside kick? No. Should he have faked the field goal? No. But the overall attitude of playing aggressively is exactly what LSU needs. They wouldn’t have gotten as far as they did in this game without it. LSU lost the game when they started playing conservatively in the final offensive drive. They should have played to score a touchdown, not to run the clock out. In other words, they should have played risky at the end.
I doubt that any other team Alabama plays this year will give them the game that LSU gave them tonight. LSU is the only team in the country that could possibly beat Alabama, and they almost did it this evening. The Tide will roll over everyone else.